Miss Clara and the Celebrity Beast in Art 1500-1860

This book tells the fascinating story of the rhinoceros Miss Clara, the most famous
animal of the eighteenth century. It accompanies the fi rst ever major loan exhibition
devoted to Clara and celebrity pachyderms in the UK and will off er a signifi cant
contribution to scholarship on the subject. The latest in the Barber’s acclaimed objectin-
focus series, Miss Clara focuses on a small bronze sculpture of a rhinoceros, and
also considers other celebrity beasts, the emergence of menageries and zoos, and the
significance of the capture and captivity of these big beasts within wider academic
discussions of colonialism and empire.
‘Miss Clara’ arrived in Europe from the Dutch East Indies in 1741, brought by a retired
Dutch East India Company captain, Douwe Mout van der Meer, who then toured her
round Europe (including England) to huge acclaim and excitement. Jungfer Clara (so
christened while visiting Würzburg in 1748) was the fi rst rhino to be seen on mainland
Europe since 1579 and the object of great wonder and aff ection. Her fame generated a
massive industry in souvenirs and imagery from life-scale paintings by major masters to
cheap popular prints; there were even Clara-inspired clocks and hairstyles. This book will
look at the phenomenon of Clara but, unlike previous studies of the subject, will focus
primarily on sculptural/3D representations of her, within the context of other celebrity
pachyderms represented by artists between the 16th and 19th centuries.
Miss Clara is one of the most remarkable and best-loved sculptures in the Barber and
was praised by the great German art historian and museum director Wilhelm von Bode
as ‘the fi nest animal bronze of Renaissance’ – a telling tribute to its quality, even if he
misunderstood its date. The Barber’s cast is one of only two known, the other being at the
V&A. There are also closely related marble versions. Other celebrity beasts featured will
include the elephants Hansken, Chunee and Jumbo; Dürer’s and various London rhinos;
and the hippo Obaysch, star of London Zoo in the 1850s, and the fi rst to be seen in Europe
since the fall of the Roman Empire.
The publication will consist of entries for the thirty exhibits – included extended
texts by Dr Helen Cowie (York University) on images of Chunee and Obaysch – preceded
by three essays. Robert Wenley, Deputy Director of the Barber Institute, and the curator
of the exhibition, will relate the story of Miss Clara (and of other celebrity rhinos),
and explore the sculptural representations of her, presenting new research into their
attribution and dating. The eminent sculptural historian, Dr Charles Avery, formerly
of the V&A Museum and Christie’s, will write a complementary essay about celebrity
elephants in Europe between 1500 and 1700. Dr Sam Shaw (Open University), will discuss
private menageries and public zoos between about 1760 and 1860 in the UK, and consider
celebrity pachyderms as emblems of empire and colonialism.